Russia Goes Online to Win Support of ‘Generation Putin’ for Syria Campaign
By Olga Razumovskaya and
Nathan Hodge
Oct. 27, 2015 5:30 a.m. ET
1 COMMENTS
MOSCOW—The Russian government is waging a campaign at home for hearts and minds over Syria, using social networks to drum up support for its military campaign to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Since it began its air war Sept. 30, Russia’s military has released a stream of flashy videos online showing warplanes dropping bombs and missiles on ground targets in Syria. Within hours of the first airstrikes, the Defense Ministry had posted footage on Facebook of bombing runs, garnering thousands of shares and likes.
Russia says it is carrying out precision strikes to avoid hitting civilians—Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday called reports of civilian casualties a “newspaper hoax” meant to discredit Russia, according to state news agencies.
Indeed, the images released show a slick, sanitized vision of war, emphasizing Russia’s ability to wage high-tech warfare. The videogame-style footage appears designed to appeal to young, Internet-savvy Russians.
more...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=1&ved=0CB4Q-AsoATAAahUKEwi3ntKPuuTIAhVFNj4KHWahA2Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Frussia-goes-online-to-win-generation-putin-to-syria-campaign-1445938202&usg=AFQjCNHMNfGKqjwEcdh1Hyu5MpLmrfqgHw&sig2=bxLSAYb5S88_y-w7Up-C0g